Women’s Studio Workshop Mug Library

24 talented potters have generously donated a special handcrafted mug which will be available for anyone in the local community to borrow.

For the 2018 Global Day of Clay the Women’s Studio Workshop will be launching the WSW Mug Library. Ceramic studio manager Ruth McKinney Burket has long been inspired by the Artstream Library and Pots In Action and has been wanting to bring something like this to WSW and our local community.

For the WSW mug library 24 talented potters have generously donated a special handcrafted mug which will be available for anyone in the local community to borrow. The mug library functions the same way as a traditional book library does: borrowers get the chance to take a mug home, use it for a week, then return it for others to enjoy. Through this experience we aim to cultivate appreciation for well-​​crafted pots and give participants an enriching personal and social experience.

The Mug Library lives within our gallery and is displayed on a custom made shelving unit. The mugs themselves are housed within their own handmade box, which doubles as a safe means of transport when the mug is borrowed. Boxes have a place to record the name of the borrower and are stamped with the date of return on its “library card”. Every participant signs out the mug and commits to return it in a timely manner. There is an element of exchange as each borrower is prompted to return the mug with a contribution in the form of a question, poem, inspiring quote or drawing. These contributions will be used in a future project or exhibition.

On Tuesday October 9th there will be a preview of the library at our exhibition opening and slide night. On Wednesday October 10th, in celebration of the Global Day of Clay, the library will be “open for business” and the borrowing can begin. The opening event will take place at 6:30 pm.

Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW) is a visual arts organization in Rosendale, New York. Since 1974, WSW has brought over 5,000 artists from across the globe to work in the printmaking, hand papermaking, letterpress printing, photography, book arts, and ceramics studios. Over 6,500 Ulster County youth have participated in WSW’s Art-​​in-​​Education program. WSW’s artists’ book grant program has published more than 200 artists’ books, collected by special collections of major libraries and museums including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Tate Modern, and The Library of Congress, among others.

Women’s Studio Workshop programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Cowles Charitable Trust, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, Edwards Foundation Arts Fund, Agnes Gund, Klock Kingston Foundation, Ora Schneider Residency Grant, Sustainable Arts Foundation, Ulster Savings Bank, and Windgate Charitable Foundation.